Action Figure #809: Power Rangers Lightning Collection In Space Pyscho Black Ranger

 And to think last year I decided I'd try to get all these expensive fellows. Well, I did it!

 I did lose the auction for the In Space Psycho Black Ranger however my story didn't end there. Part of the reason I let the auction go was that he was being sold for a set price in another listing. But I guess some other bidder saw it first and got him right after getting outbid. It all seemed lost until a week later a listing for this guy popped up. I didn't even think about it twice!

 Well, on the outset, this might be the most boring of the lot because he is just black all over. I think they put black paint over the parts that are colored on the other Rangers but I'm not 100% if it isn't just my eyes playing tricks on me. For some reason his collar is gold instead of white, which is accurate to the Source Material, but it's still a bit odd. He comes with two gripping hands, a fist, a energy wielding hand and his club-staff weapon thing.

 The seller shipped him with no alternate right hand to the energy thingie one, so I hat to get creative and simply chopped off the green energy. Beyond the green stubs at the end of his fingers, I think this hand wound up looking really cool in poses with his club!

 Same articulation as always. Double jointed elbows and knees, hinged waist, ball jointed ab crunch, butterfly joints and swivels on his biceps, thighs and boots. That said, both shoulders were incredibly stiff, to the point I had to use both hot water AND oil to get them a bit looser. He is a bit shorter than Bucky Cap.

 LOOK AT THE SEVEN ROSTER TEAM TOGETHER, LIKE, DAMN! This is one of the coolest looking teams once assembled, between the designs and the weapons. That said, beyond the Red, Blue and Silver Rangers I wouldn't say the others are worth the explosive prices they are going for nowadays, particularly the Green one. I'm scoring this one lower than the rest due to the stiff shoulders.

6.0

Action Figure #808: Power Rangers Lightning Collection In Space Pyscho Yellow Ranger

 And now, the other psycho lady!

 Well, some guy had for auction this In Space Yellow Psycho Ranger alongside the pink and the black one, albeit in separate listings. All three auctions ballooned up so I decided to let the Black one go since I had seen more listings pop up for him. But, hey, I got Pink and Yellow together!

 Well, same exact sculpt as the Pink one, but in yellow. And I do love Yellow, particularly when coupled with Black. If you ask me, this one is one of the coolest looking Psycho Rangers thanks to the yellow coloring. She comes with a blaster, two gripping hands, a fist, a energy wielding hand and a yellow effect piece... that sadly wasn't included with the listing.

 Her weapon is a gun... but she has no trigger finger, which sucks because without the finger locked in the trigger her grip  on the gun is pretty loose. So I took a knife to her hand and got myself a trigger finger hand.

 Copy Paste time! Articulation follows the same rules as the other male-to-female bucks. She does have butterfly joints, thigh swivels, boot swivels, biceps swivels, double jointed knees, a hinged waist, a ball jointed ab-crunch... but single jointed elbows. Kind of a shame, but it works. The hinged waist feels a bit... crickety. It does a lot of noise when bending her, but it doesn't seem like it'll break any time soon. Surprisingly, she seems to be a smidge taller than her male counterparts, but still shorter than Bucky Cap. The explanation is that the Psycho male buck can't close his legs as much as the female buck, so it can end up standing a bit shorter.

 Look at all these guys together! I might be missing the Black Ranger(Or am I....?) but with this lady in tow I have a traditional Sentai color schema: Yellow, Blue, Red, Green and Pink with a Sixth Ranger, in this case being Silver, which is super cool!

7.0

Action Figure #807: Power Rangers Lightning Collection In Space Pyscho Pink Ranger

 Pretty in pink? Psycho in Pink!

 Well, seems I continue to gather the Psycho Rangers, and now I finally get the female version of the buck with the In Space Psycho Pink Ranger joining my collection. I did mention I'd see myself forced to get all of them, right?

 Well, it's the Psycho buck but in female form. While it does make more sense for them to use a different buck, in the show itself all the Psycho Rangers, regardless of gender, looked the same. This frame is a bit more petty, but it doesn't look half bad, and neither does the design in pink. She comes with a bow, the same pink energy arrow as the MMPR Pink Ranger, two gripping hands, a fist, and an energy wielding hand. Her hands are actually smaller than the guys' so they are not compatible.

 Articulation follows the same rules as the other male-to-female bucks. She does have butterfly joints, thigh swivels, boot swivels, biceps swivels, double jointed knees, a hinged waist, a ball jointed ab-crunch... but single jointed elbows. Kind of a shame, but it works. The hinged waist feels a bit... crickety. It does a lot of noise when bending her, but it doesn't seem like it'll break any time soon. Surprisingly, she seems to be a smidge taller than her male counterparts, but still shorter than Bucky Cap.

 She's a decent addition to my rangers, and with her in tow that means... I finally have a full five member Psycho Ranger team, even if it's not the classic line up! The figure itself is nothing too crazy, but I like owning her.

7.0

Action Figure #806: Jazwares Pokemon Select Typhlosion

 And now comes the other 800th candidate.

 Imagine my surprise learning not only that there were 6 inch articulated Pokemon figures but that they had also made Typhlosion which happens to be my favorite Pokemon ever. Ever. I had to get in on this, and so here we are!

 As far as the sculpt goes... just look at it, the figure is an absolutely gorgeous representation of how he looks in the games. The paint and plastic are very vibrant, and what few paint apps it has are spot on, unlike my other Jazwares Pokemon figure. It comes with a fairly basic, but stable, base to hold the figure in case you want to put him in weird poses.

 The flame effect connects to the neck via 4 pegs. It holds in place really well, and if you decide to pose him without the flames he's got the red funnels painted on for that modern, flameless look I don't like as much.

 Articulation is not quite as good as you'd expect. Typhlosion's main body is separated into 5 rings, and they seem to be ball jointed into each other, but you won't get any crazy curved crunch from him, although there is a notable difference from him standing as straight as he can and when fully crunched inward. His hips and shoulders are not ball jointed, while they can move a bit up, a bit down and a bit to the sides you don't get as much range as you'd like. He has a decent elbow range, and can rotate both hands and feet. He has the cutest tiny toe-hinges too! It's serviceable. He's almost as tall as Bucky Cap, maybe AS tall if I tried getting his back fully straightened, and as a 6 inch figure, he is obviously taller than my 4 inch Tyranitar.

 Typhlosion is a good figure that is a bit let down by its limited articulation. Mind you, the sculpt is phenomenal, and it's not like the articulation is bad, because it isn't, it's simply not as good as it could've been and a bit more range on his limbs could've gone a long way.

8.0

Action Figure #805: Star Wars The Black Series Kyle Katarn

 About damn time!

 If you were playing PC Star Wars games back in the late 90's and early 00's then you should be familiar with Kyle Katarn because he was the star of some of the most beloved Star Wars games of his era. He was THE Star Wars hero, so it's a bit surprising that it took so long to get a figure!

 Well, the thing about Kyle is that he has had many different designs, for example, in the first Dark Forces game he wore a jacket and not beard. Regardless, this is probably the most well known version of Kyle, although sometimes he gets a brown strap on his right arm. Regardless, if you like Kyle, you'll be familiar with this version of him. And, well, I think they sculpted him just right, he looks really badass. While Kyle has had different lightsabers, he comes with the one he built himself, as well as a slashing alternate blade and a blaster pistol.

 I quite like his left hand. It's not quite a trigger finger, but you can use it as a force using hand, a pointing finger, a secondary grip hand or a gun holding hand too. Good sculpt, I hope we see this hand again.

 The articulation matches the standards of the modern Black Series' figures. His single jointed elbows and knees have very deep cuts, he has butterfly joints complimented by the soft-plastic overlay on his chest, and a ball jointed waist. He also has useless thigh swivels. His hands are set on the new ball jointed pegs. You can definitely hit some cool poses with this guy. He is half-a-head shorter than Bucky Cap.

 I'm happy to say that Hasbro knocked it out of the park with Kyle. On the outset, he is a fairly simple figure, BUT, he is exactly what he needed to be.

9.0

Action Figure #804: Star Wars The Black Series Seventh Sister Inquisitor

 The runt of the litter.

 Well, the quest to own all Inquisitors continues with the Seventh Sister Inquisitor feature in this latest wave.

 And well, she might be the worst one of the bunch. So, as far as the sculpt goes, she is a nice looking figure. There's a nice amount of new sculpting just for her, and they gave her a really good face design that looks evil and confident that I think suits her really nicely. The only thing I'll hold against her, sculpt-wise, is that her skirt is very restrictive, so it should've been soft goods. She comes with he light saber, two alternate slashing blades, her helmet, which is divided into two pieces, and a little droid. The helmet doesn't have the snuggest fit ever, but it's good enough, much better than Moff Gideon's at least. Also, the grip on her blade isn't the best, and not because of the annoying hilt pegs, but because the hand is a bit more rubbery than it should.

 Articulation would be fine, single jointed elbows and knees with deep cuts, and a ball jointed waist... She has butterfly joints, but you won't get much range out of them. The real big issue is the skirt. I think I've stretched it a bit, but it still limits the movement with her legs. She has the new ball wrist pegs. She is quite shorter than Bucky Cap.

 She's definitely the weakest figure from this wave. She's not a totally awful figure, but the skirt is a real annoyance when it comes to putting her in cool poses. 

5.0

Action Figure #803: Star Wars The Black Series Jedi Master Dooku

 See? He wasn't always that bad!

 I can't say Jedi Master Dooku was high on my wishlist, but we do need more Jedi with curved sabers, and he does have a nice, unique color scheme... 

 Well, Light Side Dooku is an interesting mix of old and new. Legs and arms are clearly reused from the old Dooku, but the chest, skirt and heads are completely new. I do love his design, because he has this purpled and green color scheme no other Jedi has that makes him pop next to other Jedi. I do love the layered look his robes have, Black Series' has found its footing, and it's glorious. That said, the head-sculpts don't really look like Christopher Lee, but rather... Sacha Cohen? yeah.... Well, he comes with his saber, an alternate swiping blade and a bearded alternate head.

 What is impossible to ignore is how bland the hilt looks in comparison to Tyranus' saber. It's a flat silver plastic, with no accents whatsoever. This extends to the chain that holds his cape, Tyranus' is rivetted, this one is a simple line of plastic.

 Articulation-wise, he is up to par with the modern releases. Single jointed elbows and knees with very deep cuts for very good bends. The skirt is made of soft plastic that bends very easily, so you can lift his legs no problem. He has butterfly joints and a ball jointed waist. He has useless swivels on his thighs... useless, because single-jointed knees means you don't need to turn the thighs! It might just be my copy, but the thigh sculpt on his right leg doesn't seem to match the thigh sculpt. Sadly, he uses the old hinged wrists instead of the new ball pegs. He is a bit taller than Bucky Cap.

 Well, he is not a huge improvement over the other Dooku figure, but I do like how unique he looks in comparison to other Jedi figures. He is a decent addition to any collection, just not a mandatory one.

8.0 

Action Figure #802: Marvel Legends Warbird (2025)

 Some went to war for this one.

 Last year, this Warbird was the reason I was able to get the classic Warbird for cheap, and I had to, because Target exclusives suck. Had I known it would become easily available if only I waited a year...

 This figure was the second time Hasbro used their then new female buck. And it's glorious. While I've never been much of a fan of the glorified swimsuit, something about the gold and black, with the red sash, just looks so eye-catching! As far as the sculpt goes, this is a lovely looking figure. She comes with two head sculpts, which look similar to the ones that come with Ms. Marvel but are actually different, two fists, two open hands and two energy effect pieces. My only issue are the gummy arms, but at least the shoulder joints are fairly smooth. 

 So, in comparison with the old figure... it's much better. Much better proportions, much better articulation and a much better face. The really big difference is that the older one shows more skin, below the arms, and has bigger breasts, which depending on your tastes might be an upgrade or a downgrade.

 Articulation, well... this is the buck that put ML female figures up to par with the male heroes. Elbows and knees are double jointed, she has swivels on her biceps and thighs, with butterfly joints, a hinged waist and a ball jointed ab crunch. There's a LOT of poseability with this figure. She is a bit shorter than Bucky Cap.

 Well, what can I say? She is an excellent figure. Design is excellent, articulation is excellent. The only thing Hasbro needs to do now is to use better plastic.

9.0

Action Figure #801: Marvel Legends Red She-Hulk

 Green with envy... red with anger?

 Well, Red She-Hulk has never been one of my favorites, but it's one of those characters that you NEED in your Marvel collection. And well, finally she got updated.

 This figure is... alright. She is an 80% recycle of one of the first modern She-Hulk figures... one I avoided because she wasn't quite the She Hulk I wanted. So yeah, she is alright. Here's the thing, the lower half of her body is recycled, and while at some point Red She-Hulk DID feature broken pants... it was never her most usual appearance. At least she has an sculpted new bust, and it does look layered, so I'll give them props for that. She comes with two headsculpts, a neutral face and and an angry face... But... I would've preferred a smirking face, like the one in the art from the box. She comes with two fists, two gripping hands, and two semi open hands as well as two Sai. The Sai are kinda pathetic, they are too short, but at least you can use the semi-open hands to give her the Raphael grip she exhibits in the boxart. Overall? The sculpt is fine, but I would've given her proper pants AND boots.

 I also find the knee joints a bit suspect. They should've been read to match the skin, since the pants are torn at the knees. Having the red knees exposed, but the joint being black doesn't mesh very well.

 This photo doesn't do it justice, but both red halves of her abdomen are a different shade of red! What gives?

 The articulation is pretty good. She has a ball-jointed ab-crunch, which works pretty well, but no waist articulation. Knees are double jointed, and while the elbows are single jointed, they are much like Star Wars Black Series' with a very deep cut that goes over 90 degrees. That said, I think they should've reused She-Hulk's arms, because this way it looks like She Hulk has slightly better biceps! She's about a head taller than Bucky Cap.

 I think Red She-Hulk is fine. She's not my favorite buck-recycle job ever, but it's decent. She's good enough, y'know? They could've given her a headsculpt with yellow eyes and a nice, evil smirk. They could've given her better legs. They could've given her better Sai... but what we get is serviceable.

7.0

Action Figure #800: NECA Freddy Krueger(Nightmare on Elm Street 2)

 A Nightmare come true.

 While Art the Clown is my favorite horror movie Icon of today, Freddy Krueger has always been my GOAT, so it was only a matter of time before he arrived. For entry #800 I had two candidates: My favorite Pokemon or my favorite Slasher. You can see who won out! NECA has made many Freddies, but why this one? The original Nightmare is one of the best, but, it's the only classic Freddy flick in which his arms don't have the stripes. I needed the stripes. Nightmare 3 is my favorite of the bunch, but that figure has an alternate chest-option, and I didn't want to have to deal with a piece that might fall... so I settled for 2, which is one of the black sheeps in the franchise due to how many rules it breaks... but hey, at least it's a classic lookin' Freddy with no gimmicks!

 With my thought process out of the way, what about the figure itself? It's a thing of beauty. But let's get the worst out of the way first: His body is pre-posed, so his torso is slightly angled, as well as his neck. It's not a huge deal, but it wouldn't have been my first choice to sculpt him like that. Also, his arms seem a bit slimmer than I would've liked for the thickness of his torso and legs. But that's were my complaints end, because everything else about this guy is beautiful. From the intricate weaving of the fabric on his sweater, to the detail on his burned skin.... This is a beautiful looking figure. And the paint apps are on point, be it all the teeth on his different heads, or the eyes, or even the tiny metallic details on his shoes... I swear, this looks like Freddy as if he had come straight out of the movie. It's THAT good. And then the accessories: An angry head with no pupils, the one I'm using, and even angrier head with pupils and and EVEN angrier head with part of his skull missing, showing his brain. He has two clawed hands, one with the razors coming out of his fingers, and one with his classic glove. He also comes with two dog-people, of which you can rotate their heads and they are ALSO beautifully sculpted, very nasty looking, and expertly painted, as well as a fantastic fire effect that attaches through a magnet on his back. If you move him around the fire WILL fall, but once you settle on a pose, and you put the effect on his back, it will stay in place with no issues whatsoever. And it looks FANTASTIC on him. And I almost forgot! He comes with his classic fedora, which you can remove. It stays on his head pretty firmly, however. The only thing worth mentioning is to be careful with his clawed hands, because those razors will bend easily, I've seen many Freddies with those things pointing in awkward angles.

 Articulation, well... it's NECA, just be glad he goes above 5 Point of Articulation! Hips and shoulders work perfectly well, although I had to apply some oil to the hips because they were squeaky. Elbows and knees are single jointed and don't quite reach 90 degrees, but they are close. Hi has a ball jointed waist, but the forward and backward movement is neglegible. Curiously, the wrists are on ball pegs instead of hinges, and they offer a lot of range! Overall? It gets the job done. He is quite a bit taller than Bucky Cap.

 I really love this Freddy. The pre-posed sculpt is not my favorite, but it's not so bad so as to really limit his poseability. As someone who LOVES the Nightmare on Elm Street Saga, I couldn't have asked for more.

9.5

Action Figure #799: Star Wars The Black Series Mandalorian Death Watch

 Guess we are collecting Mandos now.

 So... I remember seeing this generic random Death Watch Mandalorian and thinking that the matte blue plastic made them look like toys and not real, breathing characters. But, well, I had some spare money, kinda, and he was sorta cheap, so I decided to bite the bullet.

 And I'm glad I did, because for some reason I'm in love with this figure. I've fallen in love with this blue Boba Fett, no, really, I've had a ton of fun posing him around all week long. This blue, grey and black color palette just wound up being so appealing on a Mandalorian armor! I haven't been able to put him down. So, yeah, he looks really cool. He comes with a jetpack, that falls off at the slightest touch, a pistol, and a cool dual handed rifle.

 The grip on the rifle isn't the best ever, but it stays on his hand well enough, but it will fall off every now and then. It's a pretty cool looking weapon, to be honest.

 Articulation is up to par. Single jointed elbows and knees with good enough bend each. A ball jointed ab crunch on his torso, and swivels on his thighs. The right thigh swivel is limited by the gun holster. The funnels of his jetpack can be moved up and down, as well as his targeting reticule. The shoulder pads move alongside the arms, so no issues there. Sadly, this is another figure with loose kneepads over his knees. That said, the only big annoyance is the one mentioned before: How easily his jetpack falls when posing him. He is almost as tall as Bucky Cap.

 So... Yeah, it's not a perfect figure, it's rather simple, and yet... I love it. The Mandalorian armor just looks so good with this color scheme, and the articulation is good enough to make him look so badass! And that's why, despite how unimpressive he looks from the outside, and his little jetpack mishaps... I found this guy to be lovely.

8.0